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Series · urban fantasy

Word and Void

by Terry Brooks

The Word and Void series by Terry Brooks has 3 books and is best read in publication order, starting with Running with the Demon (1997).

Books
3 books
First published
1997
Status
completed
Last checked

Start here: Running with the Demon (1997) — then read straight through in publication order.

Cover of Running with the Demon, the first book in Word and Void

Reading order

The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.

  1. Running with the Demon

    Novel

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  2. A Knight of the Word

    Novel

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  3. Angel Fire East

    Novel

    View book

About the Word and Void series

Terry Brooks's Word and Void trilogy is his only Shannara-adjacent work set in the real, contemporary world, following John Ross, a Knight of the Word cursed with visions of a devastated future America if he fails in his mission, and Nest Freemark, a girl in small-town Hopewell, Illinois, whose latent magic and family secrets make her central to the hidden fight between the Word (order, magic, and the natural world) and the Void (chaos and corruption). Running with the Demon introduces both characters as a demon arrives in Hopewell during a single fateful Fourth of July weekend, hunting Nest before she comes into her power. A Knight of the Word picks up years later as an older Ross, guilt-stricken over a failure of nerve that let horrific violence occur, seeks out Nest again for a mission against a corrupted magician threatening a Seattle homeless shelter. Angel Fire East closes the trilogy as Ross confronts a former Knight of the Word turned traitor, with the stakes for both the real world and the future Ross has glimpsed reaching their peak.

Though it can be read as a self-contained contemporary fantasy trilogy, Word and Void is revealed -- across Brooks's later Genesis of Shannara books -- to be a direct prequel to the entire Shannara saga, explaining how a nuclear apocalypse in Ross's future becomes the post-collapse world the Four Lands eventually rise from.

How to read this series

Read in publication order -- Running with the Demon (1997), A Knight of the Word (1998), Angel Fire East (1999) -- which is also the internal chronology, following John Ross and Nest Freemark across roughly a decade. The trilogy stands completely on its own and requires no prior Shannara reading: it's set in the contemporary real world rather than the Four Lands, and its connection to the rest of the saga isn't confirmed within these three books. Readers who want the full revelation of how Word and Void connects to Shannara should continue on to the Genesis of Shannara trilogy afterward, though Word and Void also works perfectly well read purely as a standalone modern fantasy.

Frequently asked questions

Is Word and Void part of the Shannara series?

It's set in the contemporary real world rather than the Four Lands and works as a standalone trilogy, but it's later revealed (in the Genesis of Shannara books) to be a distant prequel explaining Shannara's post-apocalyptic origins.

What order should I read Word and Void in?

Publication order: Running with the Demon, A Knight of the Word, Angel Fire East — also the internal chronology.

Do I need to have read any Shannara books first?

No. Word and Void is set in modern-day America and needs no prior knowledge of the Four Lands or any other Shannara book.

Who are John Ross and Nest Freemark?

John Ross is a Knight of the Word, granted power (and haunted by visions of a devastated future) to fight the forces of the Void; Nest Freemark is a girl from Hopewell, Illinois, whose latent magic and family history make her central to that fight.

What should I read after Word and Void?

The Genesis of Shannara trilogy (Armageddon's Children, The Elves of Cintra, The Gypsy Morph) continues directly from where Angel Fire East leaves off and reveals the trilogy's connection to Shannara.

Reading order last verified .